October 23, 2000

An unprecedented, informal coalition of angry Indian tribes, environmentalists and Democrats are going after Washington Republican Sen. Slade Gorton's seat in November, and Gorton's opponent - Democrat Maria Cantwell - may have a chance for victory.

Feature

An unprecedented, informal coalition of angry Indian
tribes, environmentalists and Democrats are going after Washington
Republican Sen. Slade Gorton's seat in November, and Gorton's
opponent - Democrat Maria Cantwell - may have a chance for
victory.

Green Party candidate Ralph Nader has split Western
environmentalists, who are torn between supporting a man many
admire as a hero, and voting for Democratic candidate Al Gore, who
also has environmental credentials and perhaps a chance at
winning.

In Montana, the sportsmen's group MADCOW - Montanans
Against the Domestication and Commercialization of Wildlife - has
put Initiative 143 on the ballot to end "canned hunting" on the
state's elk ranches.

Skyrocketing electric rates and a resulting shutdown of
operations by copper mining company Montana Resources mean that
increased untreated runoff is flowing into the Berkeley Pit, the
country's largest Superfund site.

When two Boulder, Colo., disc jockeys invited
four-wheelers to an impromptu rally at nearby Caribou Flats, the
resulting "Mudfest" wrecked private land and alpine wetlands and
stained the reputation of the state's ORVers.

In his book, "Under the Sun: A Sonoran Desert Odyssey,"
Adriel Heisey collects the gorgeous aerial photos he made from his
homemade Kolb Twinstar and describes how he learned to love a
rugged landscape.

In Colorado, the Responsible Growth Initiative, Amendment
24, is facing fierce opposition from the real estate industry and
from many town and county officials who fear the elections it would
require would be too expensive.